2020 Craziness!
It has been a crazy year and we missed our summer newsletter. So, here is a combined newsletter from the summer and fall. So without further ado, here is our Five County newsletter:
Goodbye to Mr. Hook
Therapeutic Line staff Mike Hook retired in July after working at 5C for 25 years. We had a retirement party with ice cream cake and reminisced with him for a while. We miss Mike, but wish him all the best in his new endeavors. Thanks for all the time you spent helping the youth in our center. We know that you touched many lives while working here and those kids are better for the help you gave them.
Employee of the quarter
We have had two quarters pass so here are our employees of the quarter for the last two quarters.
For the second quarter we had two winners:
Tiffany Manwaring:
Tiffany is one of our veteran staff here at 5C. She is always one of the first to offer our residents help with their math assignments and has even come in on her day off to help one study for her GED exam. Tiffany also leads the young ladies in our center in creative group builder activities each week. We are grateful for all her hard work. Thanks Tiffany for all that you do!
Jordan Simpson:
Jordan is another veteran staff here at 5C. He is one that is usually willing to do just about whatever is needed when we ask. He frequently covers shifts outside of his regular schedule, and also does other various things like replacing lightbulbs. Jordan we appreciate all that you do to help out even when it isn’t something in your actual job description. Thank you!
And now for the third quarter winner!
Veneda Jones:
Veneda has worked at 5C for many years. She is great at holding our residents accountable, and is willing to go the extra mile to let them know she cares. Among other things, Veneda has recently started making our residents who earn their High School Diploma or GED a graduation sash to be worn with their cap and gown at graduation. Thanks for all your hard work and great attitude Veneda, we truly appreciate you!
Happenings around the center:
Although we have not been able to have many out of center day passes due to Covid-19, we have enjoyed many different activities with our residents the past few months within the center. We have tie dyed, had ice cream, had picnics, watched movies, and even had a Halloween Carnival. We were also able to take our long term treatment residents to a day camp near Horseshoe lake in July where they hiked, learned to fish, and canoe, and just generally had a good time. We are grateful for all the staff who have worked to make these activities happen. Look through the slideshow at the top to see a few highlights from our Halloween carnival!
Additionally, we have had two different graduations since Covid-19 hit and are so proud of the accomplishments of all those young ladies who earned their diplomas or GEDs. We hope each one will work hard going forward and will reach their life goals.
New therapy dog:
We have also welcomed a new therapy dog! Rocky is a St. Bernard, and Great Dane mix. He is a big boy, but is really good at working with our residents when they need some extra cuddles. Unfortunately with Covid, we have only been able to have limited interactions with Rocky, but we hope to see him and our other therapy dogs back in action on a more regular basis soon.
DBT Spotlight:
This newsletter we would like to spotlight “Turning the Mind.” This is an important distress tolerance skill. It helps us to accept what we cannot change. While we don’t always like the reality of different things that life brings us, fighting against reality will only cause more distress. It is important that we accept reality and turn our minds away from what we want to happen, to instead, what has or is happening in reality. Accepting doesn’t mean approval. However, acceptance does allow us to turn from a pain we cannot cope with to a pain to pain we can cope with, and then to just being able to express our feelings in an appropriate way.